Guest post: Massad Ayoob’s report from behind enemy lines

Editor’s note: Fresh from teaching a MAG 40 class at the South Jersey Shooting Club, incomparable firearms guru Massad Ayoob devoted his latest blog post for Backwoods Home Magazine to reflecting on the plight of New Jersey gun owners and the mission of NJ SAFE. We reprint it here with permission from Massad Ayoob and Backwoods Home Magazine.

I recently had the pleasure of teaching another class in New Jersey (or, as some of my colleagues in the gun owners’ civil rights movement elsewhere might put it, behind enemy lines.) There are few places left in America where the gun laws are more Draconian than they are in the Garden State.

New Jersey is a classic example of why egalitarian “shall issue” permitting is so important, and why more than a dozen states now have followed the Vermont Model in which no permit is required to carry a loaded handgun concealed for protection in public. New Jersey is one of the relatively few remaining states which requires the applicant to show that they customarily carry large amounts of cash, negotiable securities, etc., or have already been attacked or received serious death threats, to have any hope of getting the permit. This “may issue” policy has, predictably, resulted in a situation where practically speaking, only the rich and influential are likely to get the permit to protect themselves and their families in public.

Not surprisingly, New Jersey does not recognize carry permits from any other state. Moreover, the lucky few who do have permits to carry there are forbidden to load with hollow point ammunition, though the state attorney general’s office has supposedly approved expanding bullets with nose caps (Hornady Critical Defense, Federal Expanding Full Metal Jacket, Cor-Bon Pow’rBall). Yet another reason to hope for the passage of national reciprocity.

There are a few bright spots. Governor Chris Christie seems to have given up on BS gun control theories and has repeatedly granted relief to innocent people who were licensed to carry and got jammed up because they didn’t realize that, unlike their marriage licenses and drivers’ licenses, their licenses to carry were not recognized in New Jersey.

Fortunately, gun owners’ groups like NJ SAFE continue to be voices of reason, with positive activism as manifested here.

As I told my students there, “Pennsylvania accepts refugees!” That said, though, I admire the determination of those who have decided to stay in New Jersey and fight for their civil rights. Their mission is a righteous one.

Geoff Giordano is a lifelong journalist who brings decades of editorial experience to telling brand stories that matter. As founder and chief content officer of content-marketing firm Driven Inbound, he employs a newsroom ethic of speed and accuracy in executing campaigns customized for each client. He specializes in generating ideas for new revenue streams that also serve to provide you all the "content" you need. For a free consultation and to learn more about how content marketing can boost your digital presence and your bottom line, email geoff@driveninbound.com.

The New Jersey Second Amendment & Firearms Education Conference is an educational institution. Its purpose is to provide educational content and events for the community of advocates concerned about various issues related to the right to keep and bear arms.